Riff: Percy Sledge – “When a Man Loves a Woman”

He’d give up all his comforts/And sleep out in the rain/If she said that’s the way it ought to be

Sledge’s ballad is a classic in the strictest sense of the word – his soulful wail, the climactic trumpets, and the slow-dance tempo remind us all how blind and vulnerable a man who “loves a woman” can get. There is no knocking this song, and there is no topping the original version.

Riff by Karl Ernest

Karl is a Seattle-based musician and writer at SONGLYRICS; a veteran of both east and west-coast scenes, he has performed with the likes of The Ying Yang Twins, David Arquette, Wynton Marsalis, among others. But he's no stranger to seedy dives or house shows, either.